Thinking about converting your linear presentation materials into visually dynamic platforms full of hyperlinks and navigation structures? That’s great. Just be sure to have an organized action plan.

The process described next is called the Seven Phases. It walks you step-by-step through developing and using a PowerPoint-based interactive presentation platform. Note that although the phases, or steps, described here appear to be sequential, their actual implementation can be quite iterative. That is, you may end up repeating steps to various degrees and mixing their order. Consider these guidelines as suggestions that eventually lead to the completion of all seven phases, albeit sometimes in roundabout ways.

Phase 1—Needs Analysis:

Contemplating what activities the platform should enable, before adding a great deal of structure or content, can save an enormous amount of time in the long run. For a large platform, you also should think about issues such as who will build it, who are the necessary content experts, what is the budget, and what milestones and time frames are needed. This first phase is a mental exercise in why and how the platform will come to exist. It involves brainstorming, planning, and an analysis of logistics. It also entails the extremely important task of determining which platform components will be the highest priorities.

Phase 2—Content Analysis:

Before automatically integrating the majority of your existing content into the burgeoning platform, it’s a good idea to analyze it and ask questions in these three areas:

• Which of my existing slide shows are complete and ready to integrate just as they are? In other words, they can be added without changes.
  
• Which existing slide shows contain important ideas, useful individual slides, or usable sequences of slides, but these materials require changes before being added? What are these changes?
• Where are the holes in my existing content? In other words, what content is needed to satisfy the findings of Phase 1—content that does not yet exist and must be created from scratch?

Phase 3—Content Organization:

Deciding what your platform should accomplish and what content is required will mean very little if the presenter can’t find individual slides when needed. The guiding principle behind this phase is determining how he/she/you will be able to find any single piece of information quickly and easily. Should components be laid out topically or categorically? What switchboards are needed? What material will go in the Resources Section as opposed to other primary content areas?

SPECIAL NOTE: These first three phases are the most iterative of all. You will probably make an initial pass through all three, in that order, and then go back and forth between analysis and organization. The organization process has a tendency to generate additional ideas that are helpful for needs analysis and content analysis. Analysis then generates more organizational insights. In a sense, the first three phases often happen either simultaneously or are otherwise thoroughly intermixed.

Phase 4—Building the Platform:

Phase 4 often intermixes with the first three phases as well. For example, you might decide a particularly high-priority branch is well enough planned to begin building it, even though other branches have not yet been laid out. Be careful here, though. In general it’s a good idea to have a reasonably thorough sense of the platform’s overall structure before constructing content branches. Otherwise, later planning might change your thinking and require significant modification of hyperlinks. During Phase 4 you are building what will be used in the real world; it’s essential to restrict development to the predetermined priorities. Some sections will seem like more fun to build in the immediate, but are lower priorities. Discipline yourself to stay focused on the most valuable pursuits.

Phase 5—Testing (Alpha/Beta):

Testing should be ongoing during the building process, although more formal testing usually occurs after significant portions of the platform are in place. Testing looks at three main categories:

Do the hyperlinks work and point to the right places?
Is the organizational logic sound—can the presenter find needed content easily?
Do we have all the necessary and correct content in place?

If the designer and presenter are two (or more) separate individuals, alpha testing refers to the designer’s testing role—checking the above categories as construction takes place. Beta testing is performed by the presenter, after the designer signs off on his or her testing process.

Phase 6—Implementation:

When testing is complete, the platform goes into use for its intended purposes. Usually the implementation phase involves initial training and practice for presenters. In a case where Aspire is assisting with all of the above activities, this phase also involves training designers to ensure they have skills necessary to continue platform planning and development into the future.

Phase 7—Maintenance/Follow-up Training:

Over time the platform will continue growing and changing, requiring regular maintenance as if it were a Web site. At the same time, people in the organization will come and go and new training will be needed to keep skills up-to-date. Because a Presentation Platform is a living entity, you need to plan its continual future growth—from the very beginning.

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